Baek Jong Won, the prominent South Korean restaurateur and television personality, is facing renewed criticism following his recent explanation regarding the use of a pesticide sprayer at a local food festival. Despite claiming the sprayer was newly purchased, public reaction remains overwhelmingly negative.
On May 8, former MBC producer Kim Jae Hwan released an interview on his YouTube channel, sharing details from a recent conversation with Baek Jong Won. The two met on May 3, shortly after Baek returned from France where he had completed filming the variety show 'The Genius Paik 3.'
Kim, who previously accused Baek of abusing his influence in the entertainment industry, approached him to discuss both past allegations and the latest controversy involving the pesticide sprayer. In earlier videos, Kim had claimed that Baek would remove people from television shows if he did not like them, and that producers often had to apologize on his behalf.
During their exchange, Baek responded emotionally, asking Kim why he was being targeted and insisting that he had remained silent despite feeling wronged. When Kim brought up the frustrations of The Born Korea franchisees and accused Baek of publicly shaming restaurant owners on his show 'Baek Jong Won’s Alley Restaurant,' Baek disagreed. He stated that the franchisees were not relevant to the discussion and said that he had never treated the restaurant owners harshly on a personal level. According to Baek, he simply pointed out their mistakes when necessary.
However, when questioned about the decision to use a pesticide sprayer to distribute apple juice at a festival, Baek defended himself by saying it was a new container. He asked, “Was it one used for pesticides? No, it was new.”
This comment sparked immediate backlash online. Many users criticized Baek for missing the core issue, pointing out that the container, regardless of being new, was not designed for food.
Comments included, “Why would you use something originally meant for chemicals to serve juice?” and “Saying it was new only makes it worse. He clearly doesn’t understand what the problem is.” One YouTuber even bought the same type of sprayer and demonstrated that, even after three thorough washes, it still appeared unhygienic inside.
Another user resurfaced a clip from 'Baek Jong Won's Alley Restaurant,' in which Baek strongly criticized a shop owner for using a plastic water tank to mix dough. At the time, Baek warned about microplastics scraping off and ending up in the food. This contradiction led many to accuse him of hypocrisy.
During the conversation, Baek insisted that he had lived an honest life. He asked for Kim’s phone number and proposed a private meeting without cameras. Kim declined, saying he preferred not to meet privately, but Baek pushed back, saying there was no reason to be afraid and that it was not a personal matter.
According to Kim, he did eventually meet with Baek on May 4 at The Born Korea headquarters, where the two talked for approximately four and a half hours. Kim announced that the full interview will be released on May 12.
This latest controversy adds to a growing list of scandals surrounding Baek Jong Won and The Born Korea. The issues began earlier this year with the so-called 'Paik Ham' controversy and have since included the use of Brazilian chicken in meal kits, misleading labeling on mandarin-flavored beer, retaliatory store openings in local markets, food preparation using rusted oil drums, the use of non-food-grade plastic containers, unauthorized use of images at festivals, and other hygiene-related problems. More recently, concerns were raised about fried chicken being prepared with leftover bones and improper food storage practices.
On May 6, Baek publicly apologized for the series of controversies and announced that he would suspend all broadcast activities to focus on company management.
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